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Investigation update: Officials review findings in Champlain Towers South collapse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

Over two years have passed since the tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside and the officials overseeing the investigation provided an update on their findings. On Thursday, investigators reviewed the progress of their inquiry into the devastating incident, emphasizing that this review is focused on “fact-finding” rather than assigning blame. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) hosted a meeting to shed more light on the factors that led to the fatal collapse. During this meeting, officials examineed the current status of the investigation into the partial collapse of the condominium building in Surfside. Importantly, NIST clarified that their goal is to gather factual information and their findings are not intended to apportion fault.“Our team has made significant progress since the last time we met,” said a spokesperson for NIST. “Our team at NIST is resolute in identifying the technical cause or causes of this coll...

Unoccupied boat sinks off of Margaret Pace Park in Miami

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

A boat took on water near Biscayne Bay.The incident happened off of Margaret Pace Park, located at 745 N. Bayshore Drive, Thursday. According to police, the boat was unoccupied when it began to sink. Now, they are trying to figure out who the boat belongs to.

Broward County commissioners to discuss $15 million allocation to buy new helicopter following fatal BSFR crash in Pompano Beach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

The Broward County Sheriff is hoping for the rapid replacement of a helicopter after a tragic crash that killed two. The plan to buy a new state-of-the-art helicopter will be discussed during Thursday’s commission meeting. 7News spoke with Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher who outlined where the money to purchase the helicopter will come from. The proposed figure is $15 million, but the county knows it has to work swiftly to get the money over to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.During Thursday evening’s budget meeting, the commission will discuss the allocation of millions of dollars for the new chopper. The fatal incident happened on Aug. 28 when a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment complex in Pompano Beach. A resident at the complex, 65-year-old Lurean Wheaton, was killed, while 50-year-old Capt. Terryson Jackson, who was on board the chopper, died in the crash. Jackson was posthumous promoted to the rank of Battalion ChiefThe money wi...

Bus driver wins $100K on Powerball, immediately retires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A Jefferson County Public Schools bus driver is retiring after winning big on the Powerball.Kentucky Lottery officials said James Keown won $100,000 recently, and immediately told his boss, “I hit the lottery, and I’m not coming back.”Keown told officials that he worked as a school bus driver for JCPS for 11 years.“I loved my job, but I’d been thinking about retiring for a while,” he told lottery officials.Keown purchased the winning Powerball ticket from Circle K on Galene Drive in Louisville for the Aug. 19 drawing.The ticket matched four white ball numbers and the Powerball to win the game’s $50,000 prize. He chose to add the Power Play feature, multiplying his winnings by the Power Play number drawn — two.The next morning, he checked the numbers on his phone and he saw all but one number matched.“I looked at it four times… that number’s got to change, but it didn’t,” Keown said.Keown was excited to share the...

More than 800 rescued after extreme flooding in Greece turns villages into lakes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

(CNN) — More than 800 people have been rescued over the past two days from severe floods in Greece, local officials said, after extreme rainfall turned streets into deadly rivers, tore down buildings and bridges and left whole villages submerged.The rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing at least 14 people across the three countries, including four in Greece.The Greek region of Thessaly, the country’s agricultural hub, has been hit hardest by what government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis called “the biggest flood phenomenon that our country has ever experienced.”The port city of Volos, the surrounding mountainous Pelion area and the cities of Karditsa and Trikala were among the worst affected areas.The downpour has lasted days, but is expected to weaken from Thursday afternoon, according to Greece’s meteorological service. Rescue operations are now underway to try to reach those left stranded by the floodwaters, which have exceeded two ...

Hurricane Lee forecast to become a Category 5; forecast for US impact next week still uncertain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

(CNN) — Hurricane Lee strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane Thursday morning and will only further intensify into a Category 5 storm, days before a precarious and uncertain northward track that much of the US East Coast will have to watch closely.The Category 2 storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph as of early Thursday, located about 870 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.Even more rapid intensification is expected because the forecast track takes the hurricane across some of the warmest waters in the Atlantic Ocean and through relatively calm upper-level winds. Lee is now forecast to reach 160 mph Category 5-strength Friday night as it approaches the eastern Caribbean and is still expected to be a dangerous hurricane over the southwestern Atlantic early next week.There is increasing confidence that the center of Lee will pass to the north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin I...

Man charged with fatally stabbing woman on Mass and Cass

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

A man has been charged with stabbing a woman, who would later die from her wounds, in the troubled Mass and Cass area.Michael Bellanti, 33, a homeless man in Boston, appeared in municipal court in Roxbury Thursday morning to face a charge of assault to murder with a knife, stemming from an alleged Aug. 18 incident in which he stabbed a woman he and his girlfriend were fighting with on Atkinson Street near its intersection with Southampton Street — right in the heart of Boston’s opioid epidemic named after the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.A not guilty plea was entered on Bellanti’s behalf and Judge Shelly Joseph set a $100,000 bail.Should Bellanti be able to post this bail, Joseph set release conditions that he stay away from the location of the stabbing and to stay away from the victim, the family of the victim and any witnesses.Police pulled up the the scene at around 12:15 a.m. on Aug. 19 and were directed by a security guard to a red ...

AI that alters voice and imagery in political ads will require disclosure on Google and YouTube

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN (AP Business Writer)Google will soon require that political ads using artificial intelligence be accompanied by a prominent disclosure if imagery or sounds have been synthetically altered.AI-generated election ads on YouTube and other Google platforms that alter people or events must include a clear disclaimer located somewhere that users are likely to notice, the company said in an update to its political content policy.The new rule starts in mid-November, just under a year before the U.S. presidential election. It will also affect campaign ads ahead of next year’s elections in India, South Africa, the European Union and other regions where Google already has a verification process for election advertisers.Though fake images, videos or audio clips are not new to political advertising, generative AI tools are making it easier to do, and more realistic. Some presidential campaigns in the 2024 race — including that of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis ̵...

Patriots have concerning absence from practice ahead of Week 1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots cornerback Jack Jones was absent from Thursday’s practice one day after popping up on the injury report with a hamstring ailment.Jones was the Patriots’ lone absence from Thursday’s session. The Patriots had perfect practice attendance Wednesday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots S Kyle Dugger: No update on possible contract extension New England Patriots | Patriots know they need more than Malik Cunningham to prepare for Jalen Hurts New England Patriots | Patriots eager to celebrate Tom Brady’s return ‘the right way’ New England Patriots | Patriots-Eagles injury report: DeVante Parker, Jack Jones among 5 starters limited Wednesday New England Patriots | The Patriots get great news at practice ahead of Sunday’s season opener All other players who were listed on the injury report Wednesday — offensive tackle Trent Brown (illness), guard M...

An influx of migrant children tests the preparedness of NYC schools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:40 GMT

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, ROBERT BUMSTED and ELLIOT SPAGAT (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Damien, age 5, was giddy with excitement as he left a Manhattan homeless shelter, sometimes running and skipping along the sidewalk accompanied by his wistful mother, a migrant from Ecuador.“What I want for him is a future,” Kimberly Carchipulla said in Spanish of her son, one of nearly 800,000 New York City public school students who headed off to class Thursday for their first day of the new school year.That is what school officials want, too, as the city’s classrooms work to accommodate nearly 20,000 migrant children newly arrived in the U.S. — a number that could swell as record numbers of families cross the border from Mexico in hopes of gaining asylum.Several major U.S. cities have struggled with an influx of many thousands of asylum seekers who have filled up homeless shelters after entering the U.S.New York City’s shelter system has been especially ov...